Welcome to Mystical Experiences (Workbench build progress of 1/48 Fonderie Miniature Vautour IIB)
Hi everyone!
A week ago I decided to give this beast a go. Tom Cleaver warned me about the difficulty of the kit and guess what: he's spot-on right!
The plastic texture could well be used for lunar surface simulation, there are tons of beautiful resin stuff that don't fit at all, the photoetch is a mystical experience by itself and the instructions...well its mystical experience II (I love all this, but that's another story...).
I was reluctant to post my progress at the start, fearing I would lose moral and be embarrased. Anyway, there is a hint of convergence now, encouraging me to share some progress pics with you.
...no comments about the bastard file...
I have the feeling that COVID-19 will disintegrate to hyperspace should I present this kit to him...
Happy modeling!
If something like this was my lot, I would go get a quart can of Bondo Auto body filler and just go nuts on it, forget panel lines, inspection hatches, etc. Just take that bastard file and scrape, cut sand and file, make it fit. Till you get a basic shape of a Vautour. If I felt ambitious I could pencil on some panel lines at the end. How bad to you want a Vautour? Hit it. Oh and if you do finish it and proudly display it, you can bet your toucous Tamiya will release one two weeks later. Keep going, thanks.
Question: How do we define TWO WEEKS TIME?
Answer: It is the amount of time it takes after you have finished your Fonderie Miniature kit for Tamiya to release the same kit! I LOVED THIS A LOT!
Ohhhh (shudder) - the howwoh, the howwoh! - (shudder)...
There's one thing for certain with this kit. If it survives to cross the finish line (an iffy possibility), you will have a definite sense of ACCOMPLISHMENT.
Good luck.
Thanks, Tom! Bizarrely I love these kits. I hope I can proceed at some kind of finishing...
Stay safe, my friend!
Best of luck to you. I finished the Grand Phoenix FJ-4 Fury (still traumatized by that) and this kit looks worse than that one.
Maybe I should call this build: "Masochism Revisited"! Let's see where this Kraken will lead me.
All the best, my friend!
Don't do it! Thing's will get better! Step away from the Fonderie Miniature!
(best of luck)
Colin
OMG I just glued the wings, reinforcements made from a wire hanger!
All the best, Colin!
And all the best to you, stay safe.
As modeler's, we've been training for self-isolation our entire lives!
Spiro, keep battling, looks like you have that beast on the run.
Thanks Rick.
All the best!
May the force be with you.
Thanks Haslam! I've attached an image of my lightsaber!
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
FM kits certainly can try your patience, but they seem to bring out kits that no one else has. I always find the butt-joint between the wings and the fuselage to be the source of nightmares. Good luck.
True, true, true, George.
For the wing-to-fuselage joint I drilled two holes at each side of fuselage and run two pieces of a (now perished) wire hanger. Drilled corresponding holes at the wing joint, bent the wires respectively and cemented them in place. Played with alignment a bit, with custom made jigging (whatever object came handy…..) and left to cure overnight.
Today I’ ll check the result and try to fill the inevitable trenchy gaps with liquified (with MEK) styrene, to strengthen the joints, as the wings with engines and all the resin stuff inside are SERIOUSLY HEAVY!
FM kits definitely try builder’s patience, especially at the chaotic start, but as things take shape you can see some very rare subject materializing.
Thanks for the comments, my friend!
A modelling pioneer Spiros!
Venturing where few have gone before - congratulations.
Great to see your efforts with this beast of a kit!
Looking forward to the next installment!
Thanks David! Will need your fondness thoughts as I will walk my lonely road, inspiring film companies make the sequel of the Thunderbirds (supermarionation) “Mission to the unknown”!
I bizarrely love putting together the Kraken. I just hope to finish it, not bumping in a dead-end.
Joke aside, thanks for your supportive comments!
All the best and stay safe!
Spiros
There are two kinds of people in this hobby; those who have tackled and finished a FM kit and those who assemble Tamiya kits.
The first ones are called modellers. 🙂
I finished the FM kit of the Fouga Magister a couple of years back and have Mirage V on the go. Even if you never finish the kit its builds character.
Keep up the good work !